France was historically a major colonial power whereas Germany was not. There are many reasons for France to be more interventionist, such as geopolitical power

France was historically a major colonial power whereas Germany was not. There are many reasons for France to be more interventionist, such as geopolitical power demonstration (they have maintained a truly mind-boggling number of old colonial bases), cultural solidarity and the desire to keep close ties with French-speaking former colonies, like in West Africa and the Middle East, or even nostalgic national pride. Peaceful economic stalwarts have a great deal of capacity to mobilize a military when needed. Just look at Japan.